Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Spamming Google Maps

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the already-getting-lame dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Google organized a flyover of Sydney, Australia last Friday for Australia Day. The images taken on the day will be posted to Google Maps in a few weeks. A number of dotcoms spent hours making huge signs that would be visible from the air. It will be interesting to see whether Google will repeat the event in other cities. If they do, get prepared early. What sign would you make?"

27 of 225 comments (clear)

  1. None by Turn-X+Alphonse · · Score: 4, Insightful

    None, because it ruins the entire point of maps if you turn them into nothing but billboards.

    --
    I like muppets.
    1. Re:None by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 5, Interesting

      None, because it ruins the entire point of maps if you turn them into nothing but billboards.
      Does it, though? I could see, for instance, fast food chains getting in on the action. Imagine, if you will, if all of the KFCs got together and on the roof of each of the KFC restauraunts is a huge image of Colonel Sanders at the time Google is doing the fly-by photos. You'd know right where get your Original Recipe(tm) Bucket of Chicken without even searching!
      --
      My blog
    2. Re:None by Score+Whore · · Score: 5, Interesting

      None, because it ruins the entire point of maps if you turn them into nothing but billboards.
      Ummm. This is Google we're talking about. The guys who do everything they can to convince people to place ads on every page on the internet? (As an fyi, Google's ads frequently make up 20-30% of the data transfered when you load up a page with their ads.)

      Have you ever put something like "Mt. Rainier" into Google maps? Does it seem fucking stupid that Mt. Rainier is not one of the returned results? Maybe Google has already "ruined the entire point of maps."
    3. Re:None by suv4x4 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      This is easily solved by putting in place a corporate policy to include roof decoration for all franchises.

      You can't actually be against people doing what they want with their own roofs right? In fact, putting readable symbols on your own roof will make the building easily recognizable in a map, so it's a positive thing.

      The problem in my opinion is people like those in the article which "spammed" a public park.

    4. Re:None by harlows_monkeys · · Score: 5, Funny

      Uhm...if Google maps gets you to the right intersection, and then you can't take over from there and figure out which of the four corners has the Taco Bell, you shouldn't be going out for food on your own in the first place.

    5. Re:None by sethawoolley · · Score: 3, Interesting

      For places without street addresses, the geocoder can look up the information directly in the POI (point of interest) database and find coordinates for any feature the website is exposing. Google's map interface isn't the most well-written, even though the geocoder software they use/license (or used at one point) is perfectly capable of this.

      For road routing of non-road-network points, they can either "snap to" the nearest road, or the POIs often have "entry links" where you're supposed to be routed to on the road network to get enter there (often more accurate than finding the nearest road).

      Full disclosure: I work in the data department of a location-based services company that has a technology-providing business relationship with Google Maps, but I don't deal with Google directly and I'm not authorized to talk on behalf of my company to the public. If you want them to do better geocoding with better routing integration, send them a request, and they might be able to do it in short order. They should already be "capable" of it.

  2. Of course by LlamaDragon · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Hi Mom!"

    She always loves that.

  3. Naughty naughty by rawket.scientist · · Score: 5, Funny

    An arrow pointing to my asshole neighbor's house with the caption "Unsecured wireless network here!!"

    --
    John Hancock wuz here.
  4. "Here's your sign" by wowbagger · · Score: 5, Funny

    There's only one thing to put on such a sign:

    "Mostly Harmless"

    --
    www.eFax.com are spammers
    1. Re:"Here's your sign" by SkyDude · · Score: 4, Funny

      There's only one thing to put on such a sign: "Mostly Harmless"

      C'mon, we're geeks here: "Hello world" is what belongs on the sign
      --
      == First cross river, then insult alligator.
  5. I'm still waiting for this area to be updated by markh1967 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Where I live right now is just a very low-res blur on Google Earth and Maps. We've had a banner on the roof of our garage that reads "Fuck off Google!" in 3' high letters for the past two years just waiting for the day they update their imagery. We're still waiting...

    --
    Input error. Replace user and press any key to continue.
  6. Bullseye by krygny · · Score: 5, Funny

    If you look at the roof of the Target store in College Point, NY, there's a huge logo. Not such a good idea.

    --
    Research shows that 67% of those who use the term "research shows", are just making shit up.
    1. Re:Bullseye by ortholattice · · Score: 5, Informative

      If you look at the roof of the Target store in College Point, NY, there's a huge logo. Not such a good idea.
      For those too lazy to look it up: Target store in College Point, NY
    2. Re:Bullseye by maxwells_deamon · · Score: 5, Funny

      So if I am flying over this is a hot air balloon, do I have permission to drop things on that roof?

    3. Re:Bullseye by jlindy · · Score: 5, Funny

      Gives a whole new meaning to "Google bomb"

  7. Does it matter... by ForestGrump · · Score: 4, Funny

    Does it really matter when google has spammed first?

    For example, look
    here. It is off the california coast, near LAX.

    Grump

    --
    Is it true that more people vote for the winner of American Idol, than vote for the president? -Ali G.
  8. Nah, you can see penis drawing from space by Mr.+McD · · Score: 4, Funny

    This fine rooftop example for instance:

    http://googlesightseeing.com/maps?p=1211&c=&t=k&hl =en&ll=54.506361,-1.35223&z=19

    Or this gem in Arizona:

    http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=85022&ie=U TF8&z=17&ll=33.634542,-112.059485&spn=0.004582,0.0 13475&t=k&om=1

    As long as they had a ballpark sized ad, they should be ok.

    Ryan-

  9. this field is... by picob · · Score: 3, Funny

    Intentionally Left Blank

  10. Many of you are missing the point by Syde · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Its kind of hard to be calling it spamming when Google actually asked people to do this... If you think its stupid, then call google stupid, not the people that participated. http://www.google.com/intl/en_au/events/australiad ay2007/index.html

  11. new spin on old news by thekm · · Score: 4, Informative

    Many companies have invested a lot of money/effort into putting signs on the rooftops of warehouses and large buildings. This is just that there's a "new" reason to put a sign on the roof, one that has companies without warehouses wanting to do it (like a .com). Sydney's a great example... take a train from western sydney into the city, and you'll pass a half dozen places with truly enormous signs on their rooftops. Arnotts is one of them.

    ...these signs have been around for many decades. My father (a signwriter) explained them to me on my very first trip into sydney as a kid. He actually made one for a tractor parts distributor that had a huge shed under a flight path (regaled me with how interesting it was to create such a big layout accurately). So, it's certainly not time now to be getting all bent out of shape because there's just one more reason to make signs for a higher viewpoint.

    When the pics finally make it up to google maps, you'll see all the signs that have preempted this article by probably more than my life time. Anyone mad about rooftops becoming big billboards... you'll need to find something actually "new" to whinge about :)

  12. goatse by smoker2 · · Score: 4, Funny

    see subject (if you're exceptionally unlucky ! )

  13. An old nostalgic favourite... by RealGrouchy · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Here be dragons!"

    - RG>

    --
    Hey pal, this isn't a pleasantforest, so don't waste my time with pleasantries!
  14. Shocked at the negative comments by gary+gunrack · · Score: 5, Insightful

    People (slashdotters?) left some really vitriolic comments on their blog. It would be a completely different situation of soulless corporations were making the ad. But this is just a geeky couple doing something creative that took alot of their time and energy, and was obviously done out of love, not greed.

    1. Re:Shocked at the negative comments by wombert · · Score: 3, Informative

      Well, except it wasn't their own land. From the write-up, it sounds like they were in a public park (and almost got kicked out, but for a park ranger who decided to let it slide). So anyone looking up a map to that park gets to see their ad.

      --
      Did I say overlords? I meant protectors.
  15. Reactions by NoahKing · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Interesting to compare the response generated by this article to another where a group of open-source advocates built a crop circle in the shape of the firefox logo. As a community, our response to the giant firefox logo was overwhelmingly positive, while this article has had an overwhelmingly negative response. What makes this one spam, but the firefox advocacy a cool way to spend a weekend?

  16. Re:how could anyone forget.... by gardyloo · · Score: 3, Funny

    I can't decide whether you're talking about the parent poster's mom or not, but I like it either way.

  17. No-Fly Zone Spolied the Day!!.. by Guzzitza · · Score: 3, Informative

    Turns out that Google didnt think the plan through, with several portions of Sydney being deemed a no-fly zone on the day - in particular several parks and beaches such as Bondi Beach - where many people congregated to create large signs. One company even spent $10,000 on a sign, only to miss out!!

    See article here:

    http://www.smh.com.au/news/biztech/google-botch-sy dney-flyover/2007/01/29/1169919256978.html/